Tell Me Or Else!
by AlexaNDYE
Summary: Tony comes back after a brutal mission and refuses to tell Pepper about his injuries. What great lengths will Pepper go to make him fess up? Rated T for  L anguage!


**A/N:** This is my first Pepperony fanfic. I'm not a perfectionist, so there might be some grammar issues. I'm truly sorry if that's what you're looking for. _**Please read and review!**_

**Disclaimer:** The idea belongs to me but not the characters. Unless they're reviews, I do not wish to gain anything from this.

/

One boot just wasn't enough but at least it got him home in one piece. Tony hovered over the roof of his house ever so gently and immediately cut the power. Sparks started flying out from his suit just as he landed. He heavily sighed, thankful that he didn't crash through the roof again, and hobbled his way down the ramp that led to his workshop.

"Ow!" Tony hissed in pain. He grabbed his side but he couldn't feel his own flesh. He was still in that darn suit of his; the suit that would need at least a week full of repairs and whatnot.

The lights on the curved ramp lit up while he limped towards the platform.

"Sir, would you like me to run a scan on your body so you can recover successfully?" Jarvis, Tony's AI, asked him through the speakers in his workshop.

"Yeah and make it quick. I might just go raid the medicine cabinet soon." Tony winced in pain.

He finally arrived at the platform and stood there, bending over, breathing heavily. He groaned at the pain; he could feel his bruised ribs and his sprained ankle. After a few seconds, he stood straight up and stifled another hiss of pain.

"Jarvis, quick! Take this suit off me before I _really_ overdose on Advil." He practically shouted.

"Yes, sir." Jarvis responded. The platform slowly moved up and yellow mechanic arms were teeming from the ceiling. They first focused on the helmet. It took a split second for Jarvis to remove the helmet and realize that blood was dripping down from the side of his forehead. Tony, dazed and dizzy, blinked twice, trying to regain his focus. In a matter of minutes, the mechanic arms had taken off the chest plate and the arms.

Tony held his ribs with his hand, hoping the pain would subside but it never did.

"Ow, fuck!" He hissed.

"Sir, if you keep moving, it'll only make it harder for me to take the rest of the armor off." Jarvis practically scolded him—more like reminded him sternly.

"God damn." Tony breathed. "Remind me to install some kind of tank annihilator."

Once one of the yellow mechanic arms grappled onto the Iron Man leg, Tony immediately yelped in pain.

"Fuck!" He cursed again, wanting to bend over to tenderly grab it. Jarvis immediately removed the lower armor and all that was left was the boots. Tony stood there, bending over in pain.

"You're going to have to walk out of the boots if you're planning on overdosing on Advil anytime soon." Jarvis informed him.

"I can't move." He heavily breathed. "Everything hurts."

"Would you like for me to call Miss Potts—"

"No!" Tony exclaimed. "Pepper worries about everything, including me. She'd end up putting all of her attention on me rather that work and… she…" He heavily breathed again, almost admitting defeat. "She hates it when _that_ happens."

"If you do not inform Miss Potts about it soon, I'm afraid the consequences will become even worse." Jarvis told him.

"What Pepper doesn't know can't hurt her." He tried to smile. "Right?"

"You still need to step out of the boots, sir."

Tony straightened his back and looked down at the platform. His feet were still in the Iron Man boots. "I know, I know. Jeeze, you don't have to tell me twice." He carefully lifted his right leg but the pain got even worse. He painfully shouted and cursed. It felt like someone had stabbed him repeatedly in the knee.

"Fucking—!" He angrily cursed.

"It seems like you have a hairline fracture in your right patella." Jarvis informed him. "Three of your ribs on the left side are slightly bruised and your right ankle is sprained."

"You fucking serious?" He muttered. "Remind me to never again take on twenty armed, fucking gigantic, tanks."

"Duly noted, sir." Jarvis responded.

It took about seven minutes for Tony to lift his legs out of the Iron Man boots. After that horrible task, he immediately limped to the medicine cabinet in his workshop. He opened the cabinet and immediately took two liquid Advil pills. He washed it down with a glass of water and began to heavily breathe. He placed the glass into the sink and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his ribs. He held his hand there and painfully closed his eyes, wishing the pain would eventually subside but it never did.

"Sir, Miss Potts has just arrived. She's getting out of her car and walking towards the front door." Jarvis announced.

"Shit!" Tony exclaimed. He immediately washed all the blood off his forehead and quickly, but painfully, stripped himself of his thin body suit. He managed to put on a pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt while cursing to his highest limit. The pain wasn't subsiding and what made matters even worse was that it was harder to maneuver in jeans. His ankle was busted, his knee was fractured, his ribs were bruised and his girlfriend, and reinstated P.A, was walking through the front door and towards his workshop to check up on him. _Great… just fucking great._

"Tony?" Pepper shouted from the top of the stairs. No answer. "Tony, are you down here?" She asked again, making her way down the stairs. She glanced through the glass and saw Tony sitting at his desk, working on something on his monitor. Her lips formed a small smile while her hands punched in the correct identification code. Her small fingers grabbed the handle and just when the door unlocked, she had opened it. She walked towards his desk with a folder and a cup of hot water. "Hey, I was trying to call to you. Did you not here me?"

"Sorry, I was too fixated on the Iron Man suit." He looked up at her. The pain was shooting from every direction possible. He tried his best to not groan, wince or hiss in pain. He hated it when she worried about him; absolutely hated it—mostly because he hated showing his vulnerable side.

"Oh, well, I need you to sign these papers. They're from the medical board." She placed the folder on his desk and revealed the papers.

"Should I read them first?" He asked, smiling up at her.

"I assure you, everything is properly stated. I also checked for loopholes of any kind." She reassured him with a wide smile.

He nodded and instantly signed it. He closed the folder and handed it back to her but just as he lifted his arm, he felt an intense shot of pain hit his ribs. Feeling the need to grab his side, his hands suddenly dropped the folder. The folder landed on the ground and the papers scattered everywhere.

"Crap." Pepper muttered. She bent over and abruptly gathered the papers up.

"Sorry." Tony gasped. "I—I didn't mean for that to happen."

"That's okay." She stood up with the folder in her arms. Pepper straightened her skirt and noticed the painful look on his face.

"Are you okay?" She furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah." He gasped, nodding with a small, but weak, smile.

"Jarvis!" Pepper suddenly shouted. Tony widened his eyes and looked straight up, towards the ceiling, hoping to god that Jarvis doesn't tell her.

"Mister Stark's vitals are perfectly fine, Miss Potts. Would you like me to announce yours as well?"

Pepper suspiciously looked at Tony and dismissed the issue. "No…" She huffed. Tony looked up at her with an innocent smile. "Tony," She told him, slightly sad. "If anything is wrong, you need to tell me."

"Nothing is wrong, Peps." He gasped.

"As your girlfriend _and_ as your Personal Assistant, I reserve the right to know if anything is wrong. I'd like to deal with you dying now rather than later."

"Pepper, I formally apologized about that, remember?" He glanced up at her, slightly frowning.

"I just don't want any secrets, Tony." She nervously looked down at her shoes. "You're all I have and as embarrassing as it is, I kind of…want to go on our first date. Preferably soon… like this week, soon." Her eyes slowly caught his gaze. "So if you die now—"

"We haven't had our first date yet?" He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to completely change the subject.

"Iron Man trips to Paris don't qualify as first dates, Tony." She grinned at him.

"Oh…" He crooked the side of his mouth.

"I mean, don't take it the wrong way, it was truly exciting and very romantic of you but… I…" She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I just want us to go out to dinner… alone and hopefully with no distractions or distress calls from S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I'm sorry." He apologized. When Iron Man took her to Paris, their romantic evening had been cut short thanks to a certain one eyed pirate and a little miss Romanoff. "I'll tell Fury to fuck off next time, just for you." He widened his charm smile.

Pepper gasped a laugh and shook her head at him. "If it's worth getting yelled at then sure, tell him those exact words."

"You'd be worth every single word he'd shout at me." Tony flashed a charming smile.

"Flattering, but I don't want to see Natalie drag your unconscious body through the front door." Pepper's lips formed a small smile. Both of her hands held the folder in front of her as if trying to be professional in front of him.

"Psh." Tony waved his hand. "That triple agent wouldn't dare to touch this."

Pepper laughed and shook her head again. For the longest time, she had to deal with his attitude and male tendencies. For ten years, she's somewhat disliked having to deal with all of his problems but now, now that they're a couple, all she wants to do is be in his presence. Her eyes started from his head to his toes. Yes, he was checking him out. He loved his perfectly formed buttocks and his knee—wait, why is his right leg straight out? His sitting position is really… weird.

_Jarvis…_

"Um…" Tony looked at his monitor. Pepper snapped back to reality and tightened her grip on the folder in frustration. "I actually have a lot of work to do. The suit needs repairs and—"

"It's okay, Mr. Stark. You don't have to tell me twice to leave you alone."

"No." He almost interrupted her. "I don't want you to… leave… me alone… it's just…" Tony started to panic.

Pepper smirked. "I'll leave." She said, trying to make him feel at ease. "I need to drop these files off anyways—and I have to file away some papers regarding the recent award contract to the ETJ Corp."

"I would help but I'm… I'm kind of stuck here." He widened his smile at her. _I'm literally stuck here… bruised ribs, a fractured kneecap and a sprained ankle. _

"That's okay. I'll leave you to your robots and suits." She nodded in response, turned around and started walking towards the door.

"I'll miss you." He breathed.

_That's a little unlike him._ Pepper furrowed her eyebrows and turned around to flash him a small smile. She turned back to the door, opened it and proceeded to walk up the stairs. Once Pepper was out of sight, Tony immediately dropped his head on the table. He grabbed his stomach to deal with the pain his bruised ribs were causing. He tightly held his sides, gritted his teeth together and shut his eyes in pain.

"I highly advise informing Miss Potts about—"

"Mute." Tony breathed, still trying to withstand the pain. It started to become unbearable. Without letting go of his sides, he straightened his back out and gently lifted himself off the chair. He started to limp towards the couch. Every other step made him wince in pain. After a few strides to the couch, he sat down and slowly let his body lay across. He heavily breathed and slowly closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he felt something nudge his side. Dummy sat there with Advil in his little mechanic arm. Tony opened his eyes and looked at the robot for several seconds.

"Good boy." He breathed before taking the Advil out of Dummy's mechanic claw and giving himself two liquid capsules. He gently popped them in his mouth, being mighty careful of his bruised ribs, and swallowed. The bottle of Advil fell to the ground just as he closed his eyes.

Pepper walked towards the fire place and sat on the couch. She pulled out her laptop and began to type in her password. While her laptop was booting up, she pressed her lips together in anger.

"Jarvis." She said sternly.

"How may I assist you, Miss Potts?" Jarvis responded rather quickly.

"_What_ exactly is wrong with Tony?"

"His vitals are perfectly fine—"

"Don't give me that bullshit, Jarvis. Tony isn't the only one that can threaten you. I'll make damn sure Geek Squad takes apart your whole entire motherboard." She threatened him, looking up at the ceiling.

Silence.

"Mister Stark is suffering from bruised ribs on his left side, a hairline fracture on his right patella and a sprained right ankle."

Pepper's mouth slowly went ajar. Her hand was slowly gliding up to her mouth. _Why would he keep that from me?_

"Jarvis, why would he even keep that from me—Don't answer that." She strictly responded. Pepper took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "What is he doing, now?"

"Mister Stark is currently resting on the couch. He _was_ in intense pain but decided to mute me when I advised him to inform you immediately." The AI informed her.

"Has he taken any medicine yet?"

"Dummy recently handed him the bottle of Advil. He took two."

"At least he's smart enough to take Advil." She muttered under her breath.

"Are you going to assist him, Miss Potts?"

"No." She abruptly said. "Tony needs to learn a valuable lesson." Pepper looked down at her laptop and immediately checked her e-mail.

"What exactly are you going to do?" Jarvis curiously asked.

_Tony programmed curiosity into his system?_ Her lips began to form a small smile. "Just watch and learn, Jarvis." She spent three hours walking around Stark Industries, giving the proper people their files and contracts. She checked her blackberry every so often to respond to her e-mail and was eventually finished with her daily errands.

The sun was beginning to set. Pepper looked out her office window to see the nice shades of orange and pink fill the sky. It was like a beautiful painting.

Pepper opened the front door of Tony's house and saw him sitting on the couch. She turned her head slightly to the right and saw his hands tinkering with something. He had a screwdriver in one hand and a metal mechanic piece of scrap in his other. The machine was glowing bright red.

She tucked her blackberry in her skirt pocket and walked towards the couch. Tony was focused on the glowing red mechanic piece of scrap. He twisted the screwdriver left and right, obviously trying to search for the perfect adjustment. Pepper walked around the couch and sat right next to him. Without even looking, he knew she was there.

"Hey." She breathed.

"Hey." He breathed back, stilling twisting the screwdriver left and right.

She furrowed her eyebrows at the weird device. "Is that another weapon for Iron Man suit?"

"Yeah…" He slightly nodded, trying not to move his arms too much. He had already felt a bearable amount of pain rattle his ribs whenever he turned the screwdriver. "I'm trying to find the right frequency. If the frequency is too high, it'll blow up but if it's too low, it won't do… much… damage." On the last word, he finally got the adjustment right. "Ah hah, perfect." He began to grin. As he painfully turned to the left, to set down the screwdriver and device, he asked her, "So, how was your day?"

"It was okay; just the usual errands and paper filing. What about yours?" Her lips formed a small smile.

_It was excellent. I took on twenty tanks, got hit by five tank rounds thus, bruising my ribs, fracturing my knee and spraining my ankle. I refuse to tell you because you worry too much about me but it's only because I care about you._ "I spent most of my time down at the workshop but I came up here to get some air." He breathed, turned his head and smiled at her. "And to tinker with _this_ pain in the ass." He added, glancing at the device beside him.

"Well, you got it working, right?" She lightly nudged his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess so. The damn think took me nearly an hour to fix." He bit his lip and nudged her shoulder back, carefully trying not to punish his ribs even further.

"So… um…" Pepper killed the few seconds of silence.

Tony turned his head and looked back at her. "Hm?" He hummed.

_Watch and learn, Jarvis._ She smiled while the thought echoed in her head. "I was wondering if you wanted to do anything special tonight." She seductively asked him. She started to swing her legs over his lap.

Tony glanced down at her legs and then at her. He widened his eyes and swallowed hard. "Uh—" He felt her bottom completely slide on top of his lap. In a matter of milliseconds, he felt a ton of pain shoot up his thigh. His knee was throbbing like a purple finger. He held back the pain and bit down on his lip. "What… uh…" He blinked. "… What special something… were you… (ow) thinking about?"

"Oh, I don't know." She adjusted herself on top of him and leaned against his chest. She nudged him in the ribs, making sure that he felt it.

Tony felt like he just got shot with a shotgun. His bruised ribs were throbbing, his leg was increasingly painful with every movement Pepper made and his ankle was starting to feel heavy. But he couldn't tell her what had happened to him or else she'd worry about him, she'd put every work related issue aside just to take care of him—he didn't want her to do that _for him_.

"Did…" He winced when she wasn't looking. "…Did you want to… watch a movie?"

"Mm." She hummed back and slightly shook her head. "How about we just stay like this." Pepper swirled her finger around the arc reactor that was showing its blue glowing emblem through his grey cotton t-shirt. She moved her hand down his shirt and across to reach the other side of his ribs. Tony watched as she grabbed him by his side and squeezed him tight. He grunted right when she hugged him. Could he really keep this from her?

"Are you okay?" Pepper furrowed her eyebrows, looking down at him.

"Yeah." He gasped. "My… uh… my wrist is just a little sore." Another excuse escaped his lips.

_Oh my god, Tony… _Pepper rolled her eyes in her mind. She reached for his wrist and picked it up, carefully inspecting it. "Do you want me to get you a wrist brace from the pharmacy?"

"No-no. It's just out of shape. I'm sure it'll get better within a few hours." He smiled up at her, trying to conceal the pain and agony his body was going through.

"Are you sure? I can go get some Asprin if you want—"

"No, Peps, It's fine." He nodded, widening his smile.

She rested her head back on his shoulder and rubbed his left side with her right hand. Pepper wasn't stupid. She felt his body tighten up every time she ran his hand up and down his side. She wanted to teach him a lesson, not make his condition even worse. _C'mon Tony… I can't torture you for forever._

"Do you want to go bed early tonight?" She breathed, avoiding his eyes. She started putting more pressure on his knee.

Tony wanted to push her off right then and there but he couldn't. If he did, she would wonder what was wrong, they'd probably get into a fight and, then they'd end up angry and upset at each other. The pair of jeans he was wearing wasn't making it any easier on his knee. It started to constrict his knee, making it throb even more.

"Pepper—" He turned his head to face her but her lips interrupted him. "Mm"

She had kissed him softly and steadily. Tony ran his hands up her hip and had gently rested them on her back. Pepper pushed him to the side, making them fall vertical on the full length couch. She straddled his lap and kept her hands on both sides of his ribs. Tony felt every nerve in his body scream out in pain. He couldn't take it anymore—he had to tell her.

"Pep—" He tried to tell her but she kept kissing him. Each kiss was gradually getting rougher.

"Tony." She moaned before kissing his bottom lip. After a couple more kisses, she fell on his chest.

Tony gasped in pain and started to groan. He immediately pushed her off of him. "Ow, shit!" He screamed, sitting up straight on the couch. Pepper sat beside him, her knees on the couch, facing his side.

"Tony?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you okay?"

"I—" Tony turned his head to look at her and saw the worry in her eyes. He heavily breathed and shook his head. "I'm sorry... I—I can't."

"Can't what?" She sounded worried.

"I—I..." Tony grabbed the left side of his ribs and pressed his lips together. He scratched the back of his head and felt Pepper's stare brand his cheek. He looked down at her lap and then up at her eyes, catching her concerned gaze. "My mission… this morning…"

"What about it?" Pepper breathed.

"I took on twenty tanks…" He heard a faint gasp coming from the body beside him. "… before I knew it, five tank rounds had hit me. I didn't have time to dodge them…"

"Are you—?" She tried to ask him.

"According to Jarvis, I have a broken knee, a sprained ankle and three bruised left ribs." He watched her eyes widen; her ocean blue eyes were as big as saucers. "I know I should've told you sooner but—but every time I tell you about my injuries, you immediately drop every ounce of work related duties and focus on me." He watched her but she just sat there, listening to every single word he said. Her mouth was a little open but it didn't look like she was about to say anything. He couldn't even read her feelings. "I don't want you to just drop everything for _me_. I can take care of myself, Pepper. I know you care about me – I just don't want you to stress about my health. Okay?"

He watched her for two more seconds. Her facial expressions were still the same. She looked at him and heavily breathed.

"Pepper?" He reached for her hand that rested on her lap but he abruptly felt something slap his shoulder. "Ow—what was that for—?" He tried to shriek but her face had completely changed.

"I can't believe you." She hit him again.

"Ow! Pepper, stop—"

"You think I don't worry about you every day?" She yelled at him.

"Wha—" His eyes widened in shock.

"Tony, the last time I dropped everything and took care of you was when you were bleeding from head to toe." She made him completely paralyzed. "You had cut marks all over your body. If you had told me about your stupid ribs, knee and ankle when I was down at your workshop, I wouldn't be here, kissing the truth out of you."

"Kissing the—kissing the truth out of me!" He nearly yelled. "You knew!"

"Yes, I knew! Jarvis told me right after I left your workshop." She crossed her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"Jarvis…" Tony growled. He looked back at his girlfriend and sighed. "I can't believe you seduced me, just so I would fess up and tell you the truth. You have no idea how turned on I am."

"Oh, shut it." She glared at him.

"So, now what, do you want to play nurse and make sure everything's okay?" he sexily smiled at her.

Pepper faked a laugh and shook her head. "You're impossible, you know that, right?"

"Yup, every single time you tell me." He widened his smile at her.

"Tony." She wore a serious expression. "I care about you. Every single time you fly off to Afghanistan or whatever country, I stay here to make sure you're coming back."

He reached for her hand and touched it gently, rubbing his thumb over the back of her palm, reassuring her of his safety. "I'll always make it back for you, Peps." His lips formed a small smile, making Pepper smile back.

"I'm sorry for making your condition worse." She breathed.

"It's okay." He waved a hand in her direction. "I deserved it anyways. I shouldn't keep secrets from my girlfriend." He returned a wide smile, making her gasp a laugh.

"In all seriousness, Tony,"

"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I think you should go see a doctor." She tilted her head to the side, showing her loving care for him and his health.

"No." He abruptly told her. "You can't make me."

"Tony—"

"You're going to have to break up with me if you want me to _really_ go and see a doctor." He folded his arms across his chest.

"Really?" She furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"No—please don't." He suddenly begged her.

Pepper watched him clap his hands together. She immediately smiled and shook her head at him.

"I'll only go to the hospital on one condition." Tony told her.

"…And that condition is…?" Pepper raised her eyebrows at him. He leaned closer and whispered something in her ear. She suddenly widened her eyes in complete and utter shock. He leaned back to his original position and smiled in her direction. "No!" She yelled at him. Pepper stood up from the couch and angrily stomped towards the front door. "I'm taking you to the hospital tomorrow morning and that's final."

Tony opened his mouth, about to reject her final statement but all he did was sit there and watch as she angrily showed herself out. Before Pepper got the chance to slam the door, he yelled at her, "You complete me!"

END


End file.
